This invention relates to a paper tube supply system, and more particularly to a system for automatically supplying tapered paper tubes to an automatic winder.
An automatic winder which includes a number of winding units therein is already known. In an automatic winder of this type, a plurality of cops from which yarns are to be supplied are stored in a cop magazine provided for each winding unit. The magazine operates in response to a cop supplying instruction to supply a cop to an associated winding unit. In order to supply cops to magazines, a travelling truck is employed. Such a travelling truck has a number of cops loaded thereon and travels along the winding units while it automatically supplies cops to a magazine in response to a request therefrom.
In the meantime, an apparatus is also known which operates, in response to completion of full winding on a package, to doff the fully wound package and to release and supply a paper tube from a paper tube retaining section for storing therein paper tubes on which yarns drawn from cops are taken up or wound. According to the apparatus, each unit must include such a paper tube retaining section and a discharging device. As a result, the apparatus is necessarily made complicated, and sometimes travelling of an automatic doffing device, as a doffer, of the type which travels along winding units is obstacled by such retaining sections and discharging devices. Moreover, supply of paper tubes to the paper tube retaining section of each unit is effected by manual operation and hence is very troublesome. Accordingly, instead of provision of each winding unit with a paper tube retaining section, a travelling car having a doffer thereon is also used; paper tubes are contained in the travelling car and upon doffing, a paper tube is released and supplied.
In this case, it is a problem that there is a significant difference in the number of cops which can be contained in a travelling car depending upon the configuration of cops. For example, paper tubes or bobbins for cheeze packages have a cylindrical configuration and hence have no directionality. Accordingly, a great number of paper tubes can be contained within a particular space, and hence a single storing operation will allow automatic doffing over a long period of time.
However, in case of tapered cone paper tubes for cone packages, paper tubes must be separated individually in regulated orientations when stored in a doffing truck, and hence the quantity of paper tubes storable in the doffing truck is limited to several in number. Accordingly, it is necessary to frequently effect supply of paper tubes to a travelling car. Thus, it has been a subject to be resolved to provide efficient means for storing and transporting a large quantity of tapered paper tubes supplied.